A Rare Pearl
by Kaleidoscream Kat
Summary: When Riko fell in love with a sailor, her friends told her there was no way it would work out. How can she have a future with someone who's at sea more often than on land? She should break it off with You before she gets hurt. They can't be long-term, so why waste her time and energy on a fling? Two years of a happy relationship later, Riko's proud to say they were wrong.


**This is my first attempt at posting any fics for the Love Live! franchise. Hopefully I'll get decent reception and continue to finish, proofread, and post works for the fandom! Both arcs, not just the Sunshine! one. Hope you like it!**

* * *

"It's a bad idea," they said. "Don't get involved with a sailor," they said. "She'll break your heart!" they said. "One day she won't come back."

So they said.

Yet somehow, none of Riko's friends took action. They gave her their words of caution but otherwise supported her. When Riko skipped classes at the college, they brought her the notes. When she ducked out of a shift at work, they covered for her. When she abruptly cancelled plans with relatives or professionals with a vague excuse, they made sure her secret was kept safe and sound. Mari even gave her the keys to a hotel suite without being asked now. She saw that ship come in and immediately slipped Riko an envelope.

Her closest friends, all seven of them, helped her. They protected her from bigotry and discrimination. They gave her advice when she was at a loss. They let her talk to them about anything and everything, never complaining about it.

It was thanks to them that her romance with her blue-eyed sailor stayed alive.

"So..." You said softly, tracing patterns over Riko's bare collarbone under the sheets. "I have a present for you."

"Do you?" Riko raised an eyebrow. Lying on her back in these soft hotel sheets with her lover cuddled into her side, she felt like there was nothing else she could want.

"Mmhm." You rolled out of the rumpled sheets. Riko sighed heavily and sat up, shivering at the sudden loss of warmth. You stretched and pulled a bathrobe over her shoulders, though when Riko shot her a pleading puppy-dog pout, she set its tie aside to leave it open.

"Do I need to get up too?" Riko asked, rubbing her shoulders to help ease the cold. You chuckled and brought her a bathrobe with an exaggerated bow, earning herself a harsh smack on the head from the embarrassed Riko.

"Sorry," You apologized, kissing her forehead before heading across the room to the duffel bag she'd brought off the ship with her. Riko stood, put on her robe, tied it tightly, and walked closer to curiously peer over You's shoulder.

"You need to learn to organize things," she noticed, watching You rifle through items that seemed to have been haphazardly stuffed into the bulging duffel bag however they would fit into its confines.

"Oh hush," You grumbled, eventually finding the paper bag she was looking for. She took a box from it and used her body to hide it from sight when she opened it to take out what was inside. The box was stuffed back into the paper bag, which was stuffed back into the duffel bag, all while You managed to hide whatever she'd taken out. She faced Riko, her hands held behind her back and her eyes directed at the floor. "Um..."

"What's wrong?" Riko frowned at You's sudden timidity, a bit worried. The careful secrecy had been a bit exciting, but timid You made her nervous. Timid You seemed unnatural compared to regular You. It was admittedly unnerving.

"Eheh, nothing. Just uh..." You cleared her throat, her own anxiety clearly building as she met Riko's concerned gaze. "I-it's no big deal, really. Just...y'know..."

"Hey." Riko rested a hand against You's cheek, forcing herself to calm down so she could help her girlfriend do the same. "Breathe. Whatever you're trying to say, just say it." There were a few seconds during which You pressed into her hand to steady herself before pulling away. Riko's hand dropped to her side as You began to speak again. Her voice stronger now, more like regular You.

"Okay. Uhh, it's a bit of an embarrassing story. See, I...kinda...fell overboard?" You gave a sheepish laugh. "It wasn't shallow enough to be dangerous, but I still hit the bottom. There were a bunch of oysters and some of them had some nasty edges, which is why I've got a few new scars."

Riko had noticed those, of course, but You had gotten flighty when she'd asked about them. At the reminder of their presence, she had to fiddle with her bathrobe to prevent her hands from finding them again. The faintest of smirks tugged at You's lips for just a moment; she'd noticed Riko's stifled impulse.

"Well they got me back onto the boat, right? I was waterlogged and really embarrassed—I mean, can you imagine falling off a ship and getting beat-up by mollusks?—so I went right to bed without being checked over by anybody. When I was changing, I found a couple oysters that got caught in my clothes."

Riko couldn't quite muffle her snort of amusement and You blushed violently.

"A-anyway, I was pretty mad, so I took out my frustration on them...and..." You slowly brought her hands in front of her and uncurled her fists. Riko gasped and put one hand over her mouth in shock.

"You..." she breathed her lover's name, staring at the two necklaces she held. In her left hand was a silver chain with a blue pearl ring hanging on it, while the one in her right was gold and its ring held a pink pearl instead.

"Pretty cool, huh? Rare pearls, actually. They reminded me of us, so at the next port, I got them made into jewelry. The gold and pink one's yours. They each have engravings too. See, your name's on the inside of yours, with some cherry blossoms and piano keys on the outside!"

Riko was admittedly trembling as she picked up the delicate golden chain, inspecting the ring to find that yes, the band was engraved with those designs. But there was something else too.

"You, what's this?" She pointed at it. It was a sparkling crescent moon set into the metal on the left side of the pearl and curved around it, and to the right side of the pearl was graceful script that said "can keep us apart." in petite letters.

"Oh, so you saw that right away, huh?" You sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well...here, look at mine." She held out her own necklace.

Raising a skeptical eyebrow, Riko took the other ring to compare. It had You's name instead of hers engraved on its inside, and sailboats and anchors on the outside. There was a crescent moon mirroring hers on its band, but it was on the right side of the pearl. On the left side, "Nothing in the world" was engraved in the exact same script as the message on Riko's ring. It took a few seconds, but she realized that put together, they formed a sentence:

 _Nothing in the world can keep us apart._

"Looks like you figured it out..." You guessed embarrassedly as Riko's face started to burn bright scarlet. You took her necklace back, eyes averted. "I know it's stupid and cheesy, but—"

"I love it," Riko cut her off softly, then—careful to keep ahold of her necklace—threw her arms around You and pulled her into a long kiss. "I love _you_ ," she added when she pulled away.

"I love you too." You nuzzled against her cheek. "And...just so you know...those crescent moons are...um...d-diamonds," she mumbled, and Riko's eyes widened.

"You, is this...are you...?"

"P-proposing? No! Er...kinda? But not really! Um..." You stepped back, looking a bit panicked.

"Breathe," Riko reminded her. You took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

"It's a promise. As much as I love sailing on the ocean, I love you more. In a month, my contract will be up. Instead of renewing it or going to work on another ship, I'm going to let all of that go. I'll find an apartment or something to live in. Go to school. Get a job that'll let me go home every night. Go on real dates with you. No more coming in for a day or two and being gone for several weeks."

Riko's heart pounded frantically in her chest. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"When I do that...I'll ask you to take the ring off the necklace and just wear it as a ring. An...engagement ring," You finished, though her voice shook. "S-sorry if that's weird...and it doesn't have to be right away! It's not like the offer'll expire. Just uh…once I'm back to stay, the option's there."

There was a long pause as Riko struggled to comprehend the fact that something she'd been dreaming about for the past two years was actually going to happen. You was coming home—coming to _her_. And she wasn't going to leave.

Riko finally remembered how to speak and smiled.

"You won't need to find an apartment, You," she said, gently taking You's free hand in her own and squeezing it. "When your contract ends, you can just move in with me. I think it would be great if we live together. We'll be engaged, after all."

You broke into a relieved grin, then laughed and swept Riko off her feet to cradle her bridal style. While it was embarrassing (especially since You was the shorter of the pair yet could carry her girlfriend with ease), Riko couldn't deny how much she loved being held like this.

"I can't believe we've been together so long..." she murmured, leaning her head against You's shoulder.

"What do you mean? You thought I'd dump you?" You teased with mock indignance. Riko swatted her arm in reprimand.

"I've never had a relationship last much longer than a month. Then you came along. You were the first person my friends told me I had no chance to be long-term with. They told me not to get too attached because there was no way we'd stay together. But here we are, two years later to the day..." Riko remembered, giggling a bit at how inaccurate their warnings had been. She made a mental note to tell "The Great Yohane" that her fortune-telling skills were slipping.

"They weren't totally wrong, you know. Most relationships between someone on land and a sailor always coming and going from the sea? They don't work out. But we're different," You replied.

"'Nothing in the world can keep us apart,' right?" Riko quoted slyly, smirking.

"Ugh. Too cute..." You complained. She carried Riko over to the bed, tossed her onto it, and flopped down beside her. Riko snuggled against her for a few seconds, then sat up and untied her bathrobe to shrug it off of her upper body before opening the clasp on her necklace.

"You? Could you...?" she held it out. You chuckled and set her own down, then crawled to kneel behind Riko. She swept her girlfriend's long hair over her shoulder for her to hold up and out of the way, then took the necklace and looped it around her neck. The metal was cool against Riko's skin, and she felt it settle when the clasp was fastened.

"That feel okay?" You asked.

"Mmhm. Your turn now." Riko turned to smile at You, who obediently handed her the silver necklace, slipped out of her robe, and faced away. "The chain on yours is thicker than mine," Riko noticed. "And the clasp is a sturdier kind."

"To make sure it doesn't break at sea. It's a rough environment," You explained as Riko nimbly fastened it.

"And I guess you learned that even mollusks aren't harmless," Riko teased, brushing a light kiss against a fresh scar on You's shoulder, which was presumably from an oyster shell. She wasn't _covered_ in scars, but she had her fair share due to scuffles, equipment malfunctions, storms, various types of accidents…it was always a bit sobering for Riko to realize how much pain You had to have suffered over her years as a sailor.

"I'm never gonna live that down!" You complained. Riko giggled and kissed the crook of her neck, wrapping both arms around her waist as she rested her chin over her shoulder.

"But it wasn't an all-bad encounter..." she pointed out, toying with the pendant around You's neck.

"Good point," You conceded, turning her head to catch Riko in a kiss. It didn't take long for them to shift so they were at a better angle, with You soon falling to the bed on her back and pulling Riko down on top of her.

"Hey You..." Riko said breathlessly, pulling away from the kiss. You met her eyes and reached up to gently brush a loose strand of hair behind her paramour's ear.

"Hm?" she prompted.

"Can we…order room service? I'm really hungry," she confessed, blushing. You laughed.

"I would've asked if you didn't. After that, we can stargaze on the balcony a bit?" she suggested.

"Mm. Then a bath, then sleep," Riko agreed.

"Sounds good to me."

Riko's friends didn't know why she was so happy for a whole month despite You being absent after that night. They noticed how pretty her new necklace was but didn't suspect what it meant. It wasn't until You came off the ship for the last time, when Riko tackled her for a kiss in full view of everyone on the docks, that they understood. Upon seeing the necklaces shed their casual facades and become engagement rings, all their lingering skepticism halted in favor of felicitations, well-wishes, and unwavering support for them both.

Riko had never felt more satisfied at proving someone wrong, and she doubted she ever would.

* * *

 **Here's a bonus piece that I edited out. It was the original last line, but I changed it a few minutes before posting: And apparently a large sum of money in Kanan's wallet, since she'd secretly speculated why Riko was wearing a ring around her neck and made a bet with Mari, but that was a story to be saved for the wedding and retold throughout the years to come.**

 **Fun fact: I originally intended this to be angst, but somehow it ended up becoming fluff! Ah, I'll stop rambling now. Reviews are always appreciated!**


End file.
